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This is an early series by Nora Roberts from the early 90’s. Nora Roberts is sometimes a bit hit and miss for me (especially some of her older stuff) but, for the most part, I tend to enjoy her writing and am willing to give anything by her a try. While neither of these stories blew my socks off they were quick and entertaining reads.

Night Shift

In Night Shift, radio show host Cilla O’Roarke is being stalked by man who claims that she killed someone close to him. Detective Boyd Fletcher is called in on the case and quickly falls for the whiskey-voiced radio celeb. You know, I usually enjoy the bodyguard/cop falling for his ward romances. Though somewhat formulaic, the plot moved quickly and kept me interested throughout. Boyd’s your typical sexy bad boy cop. Cilla but she tries to keep him at arm’s length but that doesn’t last for long. Cilla’s successful and driven, having had to support her and her sister at a young age. I liked her I also wanted to smack her upside the head. She’s being stalked and Boyd keeps asking her if she’s had any jilted lovers or obsessed fans that they can look into. She can’t come up with anyone and the investigation is at a standstill.

***SPOILERS***

***THEY’RE COMING***

****Now it’s no one’s fault but your own if you end up spoiling it for yourself***

It’s not until almost the end of the book when she’s having a fight with Boyd does she blurt out something about a guy who was following her around and claiming that he loved her would die without her. And even after Boyd points out that he fits all the criteria that they’re looking for, she still doesn't think there's a connection! It's a good thing Boyd's around to protect her because she doesn't seem to have much common sense.

***END SPOILERS***

While I wasn’t all that impressed with the mystery in the story, it was suspenseful and the parts written from the stalker’s POV are pretty creepy. I also got a kick out of Cilla managing the radio deck with all of her cassettes. Ah – the 90’s.

Night Shadow

Night Shadow starts about 6 years after Night Shift and is the story of Cilla’s sister, Deb, who is grown up now and is a district attorney. She runs into the vigilante Nemesis one night when he saves her from an attack. She ends of falling for both Nemesis and his alter ego, millionaire Gage Guthrie. This story reminded me a lot of Batman with a slight paranormal twist. Again, this was a bit formulaic and a little less believable than Night Shift. It’s hard to believe that Deb could reconcile herself to quickly to being involved with a man who works outside of the law when she so clearly works within it and believes in its principles. Deb also does something very stupid near the end of the book that seemed out of character. The ending is rather abrupt and it would have been nice to have a couple of pages wrap things up.

What I really found interesting about this story though were the parallels to Roberts’s Eve Dallas series. Go with me on this one. Deb and Eve are both no nonsense workaholics with a strong sense of justice, though Eve is a much more complex and interesting character. Nemesis and Roarke are both cocky, charming, millionaires with secret workrooms where they do their research. Both men have experience in illegal activities. Both even have butlers (personally I prefer Somerset’s cantankerous ways to Frank’s more amiable demeanor). Deb and Nemesis/Gage end up working together to solve a crime, very similar to what Eve and Roarke do in the In Death series. And Deb’s last name is O’Roarke. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not.

This definitely wasn't my favorite Roberts read. The stories are somewhat dated and the mysteries are not as exciting as what I usually expect from Roberts. I’d recommend getting this from the library if you're interested or, better yet, skipping straight ahead to the Eve Dallas series.

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